Dear Pat: ﻿﻿I love La Fogata, and they have these tacos called Huerfanitos — basic refried beans with cabbage, avocado and I am not sure what else. I have tried to make them several times but cannot get it like they do. Do you happen to have this recipe? I would greatly appreciate your help! Thanks.

Star R.

Dear Star: In the midst of all the holiday rush, when we're busy shopping, cooking and reveling in the season, it's great to have a quick and satisfying recipe at the ready. Happily, we have just the thing. We spoke with La Fogata's general manager, David Dominguez, and he assures us the Huerfanitos tacos are “very simple ... and easy to do at home.”

Not surprisingly, the key to the dish is La Fogata's excellent Frijoles Refritos, or refried beans, but you could use a commercial refried bean product if you prefer, for more instant gratification. You could even use a can or two of pinto beans and refry them according to the directions below.

Here in San Antonio, we're great fans of frijoles refritos. They begin, of course, as brothy beans cooked in a pot — frijoles de la olla. Today, few use the traditional earthenware pot to cook the beans, but no matter the pot, they remain a staple in the Mexican cocina. To take the brothy beans to the next level, they're fried with some of their broth and some form of fat. You can use the traditional richly flavored lard, or bacon drippings or the fat rendered when cooking chorizo, but if a vegetable fat is preferred, vegetable oil can be substituted. Either way, sauté a little chopped white onion (and maybe a serrano chile, or two), then proceed with the frying and mashing of the beans.

Although their Frijoles Refritos recipe is proprietary, Dominguez does share with us the ingredients they use, and I am including a recipe using the ingredients he mentioned. He also notes that their beans are not at all greasy. It's easy to control the fat level by adjusting the amount of fat used to refry the beans. The recipe below should give you a very close approximation of the restaurant's frijoles refritos, and you can add your own refinements if you wish. The process is pretty standard.

The garnishes can be added to taste — finely shredded cabbage, sliced onion and avocado, chopped tomato and cilantro — all enhance this simple dish. And for the true La Fogata taste, a generous drizzle of the restaurant's famous salsa, which is available at H-E-B, lends an authentic touch. La Fogata serves three of these tacos per person, along with more refried beans and Mexican rice — plenty to refuel those hungry revelers.